President leads coup remembrance

PRESIDENT Christine Kangaloo led dignitaries in commemorating the 34th anniversary of the attempted coup in a short ceremony at the Cenotaph at the Red House on July 29.

On July 27, 1990, armed members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen took over the parliamentary chamber while the House of Representatives was in session. Others took over the studios of TTT.

The takeover – blamed on discontent over a land dispute, the cost of living, and the drug trade – resulted in many deaths inside the Red House, the destruction of parts of downtown Port of Spain lasting years, and a deep questioning of the nation's sense of self-identity.

Parliament invited the general public to visit the Red House on July 27 to mark the coup and lay wreaths.

On July 29, Kangaloo led parliamentary leaders in laying wreaths at the Cenotaph.

Then came Senate President Nigel de Freitas, Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George, Senate Vice President Dr Muhammad Ibrahim, Deputy Speaker Esmond Forde, and former speaker Nizam Mohammed.

Officers of the Parliamentary Police Unit lined up in formation to show respects during the commemoration. An officer sounded a drumbeat while wreaths were laid. Under grey skies reflecting the sombre mood of the occasion, the group observed a minute of silence. An officer sounded The Last Post on her bugle.

Kangaloo stood silently in tribute in front of the Cenotaph.

During the commemoration, parliamentary corporate communication officer Atiba Wiltshire read the names of the victims who died at the Red House during the attempted coup.

These were Leo Des Vignes, MP for Diego Martin Central; Loraine Caballero, clerical officer; Roger George, Assistant Superintendent of Police; Solomon McLeod, special reserve police officer (killed at police headquarters); Arthur Guiseppi, customs and excise officer and former police officer; Malcolm Basanta, estate police officer; George Francis, chauffeur; and Mervyn Teague, Government Broadcasting Unit employee.